Crumbling
by KAM wuz here
Summary: Sarah's defeat of the Labyrinth left it crumbling to dust. If the Labyrinth dies, so will Jareth. Sarah must return to the Labyrinth and mend Jareth's heart to save him and all he created. ONE-SHOT


**I'm far too obsessed with writing Labyrinth stuffs. But I don't mind at all for you guys! **

**ENJOY!**

It had been six months, at least, since Sarah had defeated the Labyrinth. It was her sixteenth birthday. She developed new eyes for her family—Toby wasn't that much of a brat, she could still have fun with her dad, and Karen wasn't all bad. She called on her friends from the Labyrinth every day—Hoggle, Sir Didymus, and Ludo were always happy to see her. Life was good.

Therefore, she had no reason to ever once think of the King of the Goblins, Master of the Labyrinth, monarch to her friends...her former adversary.

Jareth.

She hadn't thought of him, so it was extremely odd that she would dream about him the night before her birthday.

She dreamt of the Labyrinth. She was walking through it. She was alone. It was very quiet, and it felt very deserted. Not even the wind dared to blow to disturb anything. She was scared.

The Labyrinth hadn't changed, as far as its setup went. She went through the stone walls first, and then the hedge mazes. But she did notice something very different about it.

The stone walls were crumbling. Some were completely fallen, some leaning against each other, some almost totally eroded. Pieces were falling off everywhere. It was so delicate that she wanted to touch nothing. Once she did merely brush the edge of a wall, and a large piece crumbled to dust. Large cracks ran all through the stone pathway, making it jagged, treacherous.

The hedge mazes were withering. The hedges were nearly bare, the leaves blackened and shrunken on brittle branches. Most of the leaves crackled under her footsteps. Dying ivy spread out over everything, like fingers trying to desiccate all in its prevailing path.

She suddenly found herself at the entranceway to Jareth's castle. The sky over the castle was angry, swirling black and red, shrouding the entire Goblin City in darkness. The large doors were broken, one splitting down the middle and the other hanging off the bottom hinge. She walked carefully through them.

The castle was as she remembered, only darker. She followed slowly up the twisting staircase, into Jareth's throne room. Jareth was sitting in his throne, staring straight ahead. He didn't look at Sarah as she walked towards him. There were no goblins in the room, no chickens or otherwise; it was as empty as everything else in the Labyrinth.

Jareth looked exactly like stone. He was so still; he was dull, without colors. Sarah touched his hand, resting lightly on his thigh, and he was cold.

"Jareth?"

His eyes flickered to hers. His eyes were the only thing with color, the only thing with life in them. It wasn't much of a life within them; but as long as there were emotions to be seen, even if it was only sadness.

"Don't do this, Jareth," Sarah said softly. "I'm so sorry, but..."

His finger twitched. His eyes narrowed slightly, his mouth opened slightly, and with each slight movement he made came the sound of rocks grating against each other. A breathy laugh came from him. He didn't say anything. He _couldn't _say anything, because he was crumbling into dust.

Sarah woke with a start, sweating lightly, and with a dry throat and mouth. She roughly pushed off her covers and sat up in bed. It was a school day, and it was just past six in the morning. She really didn't feel like going to school that morning.

She wanted to go to the Labyrinth. And—against all her better judgment—she wanted to see Jareth. Maybe it was irrational, and maybe it wasn't, but on account of her dream, she felt that she _had _to go back into the Labyrinth. She just had to be sure that everything was okay. And she was determined to go.

She jumped out of bed and stumbled over to her vanity mirror. "Hoggle," she called, "are you there? I need you."

No sooner did she say those words did the dwarf appear in the mirror, smiling. "Happy Birthday, Sarah."

She smiled back. "Aw, thanks! I didn't think you would remember."

He looked a little bashful. "Well, uh, we didn't get you nothin'. We didn't know what you'd want..."

"It's okay, Hoggle," she assured with a shake of her head. "You guys don't have to get me anything. You've done enough for me already. Hey, where's Didymus and Ludo?"

He shrugged. "Who knows what Ludo's doing. And Didymus is occupied at the Bog, supposedly defending his honor." He rolled his eyes. "Whatever, you know Didymus. Did you need them too?"

"Nope. Just you would be fine."

Hoggle smiled at that. He liked when Sarah needed only him specifically. "What is it?"

"I want to go back into the Labyrinth," Sarah stated.

Hoggle reeled. "What?" he exclaimed. "What do you mean? Why would you wanna go and do a thing like that?"

"I...I..." Sarah lowered her gaze, her face heating a bit. "Well, this is going to sound silly, but...I had a nightmare about the Labyrinth. It wasn't in good shape. It was, like..._falling apart_. And...and so was Jareth."

Hoggle raised an eyebrow. "Jareth was falling apart?"

She nodded solemnly. Hoggle crossed his arms over his chest.

"Look," she said in exasperation, "I know there _must _be a way back into the Labyrinth. You come and go all the time, so why can't I? Just help me back. I won't even be long, I just want to make sure everything's okay there."

"Why do you care?" he rebuked.

It was a good question Sarah couldn't answer. She stayed silent, thinking about it, and then didn't want to admit out loud what she thought. If the Labyrinth was falling apart, she had a feeling it would have been her fault.

"Sarah, this is stupid. I can tell you with absolute certainty that nothing's wrong with the Labyrinth. The Labyrinth is always changing, but it's really been the same for thousands of years. And that rat _Jareth _is _just fine_." His lips curled with disgust. "He's probably sittin' around, lookin' for someone to toss into the Bog."

Sarah mimicked his position, folding her arms over her chest and raising a skeptical eyebrow. "If everything's fine, then why are you making a big deal about me going?"

He hesitated. "Because, Sarah, Jareth is always prowling around for victims, and if he were to find you..."

"Then I'll steer clear of him," she lied. "Please, Hoggle. Do this for _me_."

Hoggle looked at her, and slowly began to soften.

"Do this for me because it's my birthday," she pleaded.

He sighed, defeated. "Fine, Sarah. But...you're not going like _that_, are you?"

Confused, Sarah looked down at herself. _Oh_. She was still wearing her pajamas. She laughed a little.

"Right," she said, "just give me five minutes, Hoggle. Stay close. Okay?"

He nodded. "Alright, Sarah."

She quickly pulled an outfit out of her closet—a black blouse and light jeans—and hurried to the bathroom.

She was very careful about personal hygiene that morning. She figured that if she was going to run into the Goblin King again, she better be well prepared, beginning with feeling completely accomplished with her morning routine. She scrubbed herself completely clean in the hot shower, shaving away any unnecessary hair. When she was out, she brushed her wet hair back into a ponytail, washed her face, brushed her teeth twice, rinsed with mouthwash, and flossed. She felt awake and ready.

She changed into her clothes in the bathroom, in case Hoggle was still waiting in the mirror. She loved the dwarf, but there was no need to drop her towel in front of him. She didn't put on any jewelry or makeup, which was just fine. She was naturally beautiful, though she never really saw it in herself.

She went back into her room and skipped straight over to the mirror, which reflected only her own person when she looked into it. "Hoggle, I'm back!" she said.

She waited.

"Yo, Hoggle!" She lightly rapped on the cool glass with her knuckles. "Hoggle, are you there?"

She waited again. Nothing happened. She heard nothing, and saw nothing.

"Hoggle!"

Silence regarded her.

She huffed and put her hands on her hips. "Oh, come _on_, Hoggle! You nasty little cheat! You left me, didn't you? Hoggle!"

There was a knock at her door. "Sarah?" her father called. "Are you alright in there? Who are you yelling at?"

"Oh, I'm fine dad!" she said lightly. "I'm just talking to myself."

She watched her father's shadow disappear under the door, and sighed with relief. Then went back to scowling at the mirror.

"Hoggle!" she whispered harshly. "If you don't help me...I'll...I'll...get there on my own! I swear!"

Absolutely nothing.

Sarah stomped her foot, turned, and marched into the middle of the room. "Fine! Then...I wish..." She paused, holding her breath. Still nothing. "I wish...the goblins would come and take me to their king...right _now_."

The first thing she heard was laughter. Inhuman cackling. A wind blew in from the window she swore she had shut, blowing her hair in front of her face. She turned toward the window, and something grabbed her wrists. Then her ankles. She cried out as she fell to the floor. She didn't recall hitting the floor, but she recalled the fall being a lot longer than she thought.

She found herself on the floor, staring up at a somewhat familiar ceiling. There was a high-pitched laugh in her ear, causing her to jolt upright. She looked around in awe.

She was in Jareth's throne room. It was full to the brink with goblins, and the occasional chicken of course. It was chaos. Two goblins sat on the edge of the pit and relentlessly jabbed each other with sticks until one fell over. One was making a snow angel on the straw-covered floor. A group of the creatures sat in a circle as one of them experimentally licked a pixie—much to the protesting of the pixie. A goblin was fighting over the rights to his hat with a hungry goat, and some of them stood around and cheered for either the goat or the goblin. The air smelt strongly of ale.

"You!"

Sarah whipped her head around, and hastily stood up, wiping straw and dirt from her backside. There was the Goblin King, standing at the foot of the dais, looked at her. He changed a little; his hair was longer and smoothed down, but looked like it was fighting to retain its wild shape. He was wearing brown, leather pants, and a white poet's shirt, black boots and black gloves, his strange pendant resting against his white chest. He was carrying a riding crop. Sarah noticed at first that his skin looked whiter, and there were shadows under his eyes, as if he'd been deprived of sleep.

He began to march towards her. "_You're _back?" he asked, seething. "And you wished _yourself _away? What, in the name of the Goblin God, is _wrong _with you?"

Sarah's eyes widened in surprise.

"It's been near seven months, and the last time I saw you, you turned my subjects against me, caused extensive damage throughout my Labyrinth and the Goblin City, and near obliterated my castle. I have half a mind to turn you into a goblin and suspend you over the Bog!"

Sarah didn't know what she was expecting from the Goblin King. She knew it wouldn't be a warm welcome, but she didn't expect him to be so pissed off. He looked like he was very ready to follow through on his threat.

She swallowed nervously and held up her hands. "Um...hi."

He raised an incredulous eyebrow.

She clasped her hands behind her back and cleared her throat. "Uh...I...I didn't mean to..."

His eyes moved towards the ceiling as he impatiently tapped the end of his crop against his boot. From the way he then looked back at her made it also seem like a threatening gesture. "Spit it out, Sarah."

Sarah twirled a finger in the air. "I'm not interrupting anything, am I?"

Jareth glanced around. Sarah hadn't noticed that the goblins had silenced, watching the two of them curiously.

"Nothing important," he replied. "I was debating which unlucky goblin would be my next victim."

_Damn_, Sarah thought, _Hoggle was right. Or is he joking?_

"Why are you here, Sarah?" he demanded.

She licked her lips thoughtfully, and shrugged. "I just thought I'd drop in to say Hello. I know it was unexpected... If you don't want me here, I'll..."

She trailed off, and Jareth picked up on her thoughts. "I absolutely _do not _want you here, or anywhere near me. What are you going to do? Use _your _magic crystals to get yourself back home?"

She smiled ruefully. "I guess not."

"_Sarah_," Jareth began in a deadly tone that slapped the humor from her face, "you're about thirty seconds away from the Bog. I'd speak quickly, and I _know _when you're _lying_."

She took a deep breath. "Okay." _Here goes nothing_. "Last night, I had this dream about the Labyrinth, well it was more like a nightmare, and anyway, I was going through the Labyrinth and the walls were falling down and the path was broken and the hedges were dying, everything was so dark and it was kinda scary, and then I got to your castle where you were—" She broke off to take a breath, and reminded herself to slow down. "Well...that part doesn't matter. It just worried me. It was a strange dream to have. I...w-wanted to make sure...that everything was...okay." She bit her bottom lip, expecting Jareth's response to be filled with wrath.

He glared at her silently for a moment, then abruptly grabbed her by the wrist and started dragging her across the room. He was hurting her, and she stumbled to keep up with his pace. They stopped shortly when Jareth gave her a shove towards the balcony, and she hit into the stone sill fairly hard. Jareth sat on the sill and extended a hand towards the view. Sarah carefully sat opposite of him and looked out at the Labyrinth.

Even from where they were, she could assess the condition of the Labyrinth. It was dark, firstly. Very dark. The clouds in the sky were back, thickest swirling around the castle. She could distinctly tell that large parts of some of the walls were missing, others deteriorating. Parts of the forest looked like it had been burned down. Sections of the hedge mazes were bare. The Labyrinth wasn't empty though, it was quite full of creatures trying to rebuild walls.

"My dream was right then," she said, her voice nothing but a whisper. "It doesn't look...healthy." That was exactly the word. The Labyrinth looked sick. "Is it...I mean...does it have anything to do with...?" She turned to Jareth despairingly.

"It's _your _fault," he answered. "The Labyrinth had never been defeated, until you. I'm still trying to figure out what made you so special, but as special as you _are _doesn't justify _this_. The Labyrinth _isn't _healthy, you're right. The Labyrinth is _dying_."

Tears brimmed in her eyes. "I'm sorry," she said sincerely. "I didn't mean for this to happen. I didn't know. But I _had _to win. I _had _to have my brother back."

"I know you had to win," he said, bracing his hands on the sill on either side of her. "But you didn't have to defeat the Labyrinth."

She raised an eyebrow, puzzled. "What do you mean?"

"You are the only girl I've thought this about," he said, "but I believed that you would have forgotten me by now. I wonder, do you still remember the story? Do you remember _The Labyrinth_?"

"Which part?" she asked softly, frightened by his proximity.

His lips twitched. "_Not _the last part."

She nodded. "Once upon a time, there was a beautiful young princess. Life wasn't easy for the princess, because her wicked stepmother...worked her like a slave. She always had to take care of the baby...so she could never leave the castle. ...But what no one knew...was that the King of the Goblins had...had fallen in love with her girl. And he had given her certain powers. "

Jareth held up a hand for her to stop.

"But...that part isn't true, is it?" she mused. "It...can't be."

She gasped slightly when Jareth's leather-clad fingers traced over her bottom lip. It left the strangest sensation.

"Every other part of the story was true for you," he murmured, his breath teasing the skin of her face. "Why would that one part be a lie?"

_...the King of the Goblins had fallen in love with the girl..._

_ ...had fallen in love with the girl..._

_ ...love..._

_ You have _got _to be fucking kidding me_, Sarah thought.

"Sarah," Jareth said, "you have _no idea_ what you did when you defeated the Labyrinth."

"Tell me," she begged.

He shook his head slightly. "I wish you knew my story as well as you do your own."

"I wish that, too."

He smirked briefly. "You _wish_, do you? Sarah..._I am the Labyrinth_. Don't you see? I created it. And I put my _heart _in it. I am the pathmaker. I control the Labyrinth. You won because I had fallen in love with you. When you won my heart, you won the Labyrinth." He narrowed his eyes. "When you _defeated _the Labyrinth, you broke my heart. I didn't think that was possible, but I thought it impossible to win the Labyrinth, so you proved me wrong on both accounts. Why did you think I had begged you to stay at the end? I loved you and couldn't let you go."

"And now you hate me," Sarah said sadly.

"I don't hate you," he said, brushing the back of his fingers across her cheek. "I hate _myself _for loving you." He paused thoughtfully, and gave her an accusing look. "But that doesn't mean I'm not furious with you."

Sarah laughed while crying, shaking her head as she took Jareth's hand away from her face. "Jareth...I'm _so _sorry. I didn't mean to break your heart...for any of this to happen. But...the Labyrinth. If the Labyrinth is dying, Jareth, does that mean _you're_ dying? Please tell me you're not."

He laughed bitterly. "I'll admit I haven't been feeling my best... But, I'm not sure about dying..."

Her eye went wide in horror.

Jareth looked at the Labyrinth. "I doubt I'll die. The pain of a broken heart was...a lot to endure. I've been slowly detaching myself from the Labyrinth; from my heart. It should fall apart on its own, without taking me with it."

Sarah shook her head, moving closer to him. "No, Jareth, _don't_. I said I was sorry. I'm _so _sorry. If there's anything I can do to help, I'll do it. But _don't _let your Labyrinth die. Don't let your heart die! This is your life, and you can't sit up here and watch it fall apart."

"What do you suggest I do?"

"_Look _at me," she commanded.

He turned his head around sharply, and the tips of their noses touched. Neither of them drew back. Sarah's heart stuttered. _Thank God_, she thought, _that I used mouthwash this morning._ But she still felt as though she pop a breath mint.

_Return to the matter at hand_, she reminded herself sternly.

"Do _something_," she told him. "But if there's any chance that the Labyrinth dying could have effects on you, then you need to do something."

_Oh, man, those eyes... _Jareth's eyes were unfathomable. He held the universe in his blue eyes, and those mismatched pupils...

"Sarah," he sighed. "Kiss me."

He didn't have to tell her twice. She leaned a little more forward, and their lips met. Fireworks went off in the darkness of her mind. Jareth's hands cupped her face, and in return she wound a hand up into his hair, which was feather soft. She grabbed the front of his shirt with her other hand, trying to bring their bodies as close together as possible. Her heart was beating heavily, drumming in her ears, with every hitching breath she took. His passionate kiss set her on fire. This was funny, because she thought what she needed was the growing lust in her stomach to be squelched by something, but what she really needed was Jareth to feed the flames in a much more satisfying way. Which he did sublimely.

Sarah closed her eyes as Jareth deepened the kiss. His tongue teased her lips before slowly sliding into her mouth. Their tongues danced perfectly together.

Sarah was the first to, reluctantly, start to pull away. Jareth eased up, and the kiss ended on a sweet note.

There was suddenly loud cheering, causing them to turn away from each other. They had forgotten their goblin audience. Sarah blushed with embarrassment, and she could have sworn that she saw Jareth color a little too.

"King! King!" A small goblin had climbed up onto the sill and pulled at Jareth's sleeve, begging his attention. "Look! Look!" He hopped up and down in excitement and pointed out to the Labyrinth.

Sarah gasped as she followed the goblin's pointing. The sun was breaking through the clouds in some spots, the Labyrinth was brighter. The creatures working in the Labyrinth stood in awe, because slowly some of the walls were rebuilding themselves. Fallen walls were righting themselves, the bricks being placed on top of each other, becoming sturdy.

She beamed at Jareth, and he gave a little smirk back. In effect, the hedge mazes began blooming new leaves.

"It would seem that your kiss as repaired one piece of my heart," Jareth said.

"Then the Labyrinth _can _be saved," Sarah said joyously. "I mean..._you _can be saved, Jareth."

He tapped his chin thoughtfully. "Perhaps I can." He smirked—and he looked suddenly a lot more like Jareth, the King of the Goblins, that she remembered from her run of the Labyrinth. He began twirling a lock of her hair around his finger. "What do you say, precious thing? Care to turn my world again?" He pulled her closer and kissed her jaw, and down her neck.

She moaned softly. "You're so _cruel_."

"I can be crueler. And you know...you are quite stuck with me for now."

She lightly pushed him away to look at his face, raising an eyebrow. "I am?"

He widened his eyes in mock-surprise, but secretly his eyes glittered with wicked amusement. "Oh yes, Sarah. You wished yourself away. Don't you remember? And you do remember the rules, don't you?"

"Do they apply for people who have wished themselves away?"

He inclined his head. "Sarah, in all my thousands of years, _no one_ has _ever_ been so inane as to wish themselves away to me. But...I do make the rules, so I suppose I could come up with something." He sighed wistfully. "I suppose you couldn't run the Labyrinth on your own behalf. Even _if _the Labyrinth was in a condition to do so. Instead, you're required to stay with me for thirteen hours. No less. And you're completely under my power for that time."

She chewed on her bottom lip for a moment. "I'm in trouble, aren't I?"

The leather of his riding crop lightly stroked down her cheek. He nodded solemnly. "_Big _trouble, little girl."

"It's my Birthday, you know," she informed him, hoping it might soften him.

"Really? Happy Birthday." He conjured a crystal ball in his hand. "I've got you a gift."

She smiled as she looked at the crystal. "What is it?"

"A promise."

As she looked deeper into the crystal, a vision blurred to life inside it. She saw herself, in a beautiful, blue gown, dancing with the Goblin King, dressed in white and blue to match. He was singing, though Sarah couldn't hear anything from the crystal. She began to reach for it, and Jareth swiftly turned over his hand, making the crystal disappear.

"Ah ah ah, Sarah," he chided. "A future promise. Not yet, my dear. We have at least thirteen hours ahead of us, and I have _plenty _of activities we can partake in."

"I'm looking forward to it," she said truthfully.

"I do hope so. Because you have only thirteen hours to use your certain powers to prove to me that you can mend my heart and make me forgive you. You can start with this." He gave his lips an expectant tap.

Sarah smirked as she weaved her hands into his hair, moving forward and getting comfortable. She had a lot of work ahead of her.

* * *

**What did you think? It was odd to write; it was very fluffy seeming to me. It was hard not to write dark Jareth, instead I had to twist him into a character with a secret sensitive side. I think that is easily seen in his movie portrayal by David Bowie, but I do find it easiest to bring out his evil side. But I did like writing this. A lot.**

**PLEASE REVIEW!**

**THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR READING! I REALLY HOPE YOU ENJOYED IT!**

**Call for more Labyrinth: You guys have gotta check out my profile. I've got more Labyrinth stories. Also, I have links to my Labyrinth youtube videos. check 'em out! ! ! Let me know what you think! **


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